For many years, petroleum has been recovered from subterranean reservoirs through the use of drilled wells and production equipment. Oil and natural gas are found in, and produced from, porous and permeable subterranean formations, or reservoirs. The porosity and permeability of the formation determine its ability to store hydrocarbons, and the facility with which the hydrocarbons can be extracted from the formation. Generally, the life cycle of an oil and/or gas well includes drilling to form a wellbore, casing, cementing, stimulation, and enhanced or improved oil recovery.
Various aspects of the life cycle of an oil and/or gas well are designed to facilitate the extraction of oil and/or gas from the reservoir via the wellbore. For example, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) can be used to further recover hydrocarbons from a wellbore. EOR methods include but are not limited to gas flooding (CO2, N2, and hydrocarbons and/or solvents), thermal flooding (steam injection, SAGD (steam assisted gravity drainage), etc.), and chemical flooding (Polymer Flooding, surfactant flooding, alkali surfactant polymer flooding). Polymer flooding is growing as a result of the limitations associated with the alternative EOR methods.
When selecting or using a fluid to be utilized during the life cycle of an oil and/or gas well, it is important for the fluid to comprise the right combination of additives and components to achieve the necessary characteristics of the specific end-use application. A primary goal amongst all aspects of the life cycle of a well is to optimize recovery of oil and/or gas from the reservoir. However, in part because the fluids utilized during the life cycle of an oil and/or gas well are often utilized to perform a number of tasks simultaneously, achieving the necessary optimal characteristics is not always easy.
Accordingly, it would be desirable if a wide variety of additives were available which could be selected from to achieve the necessary characteristics and/or could be easily adapted. Furthermore, it is desirable that the additives provide multiple benefits and are useful across multiple portions of the life cycle of the well. The use of microemulsions has been employed, however, selection of an appropriate microemulsion for a particular application remains challenging, as well as there is a continued need for emulsions with enhanced abilities.
Accordingly, although a number of additives are known in the art, there is a continued need for more effective additives for increasing production of oil and/or gas.